![]() ![]() These dams slow the flow of water, reducing peak flows downstream (Puttock, Graham, Cunliffe, Elliott, & Brazier, 2017), storing and gently releasing water in times of drought (Hood & Bayley, 2008). ![]() They engineer ecosystems by building dams, which retain ponds, full of sediment, nutrients, plants, and wildlife. In doing so, they also provide valuable habitats for many other species that thrive in wetlands. Over millions of years, beavers ( Castoridae) have developed the ability to modify ecosystems profoundly to meet their ecological needs. It concludes by examining future considerations that may need to be resolved as beavers further expand in the northern hemisphere with an emphasis upon the ecosystem services that they can provide and the associated management that will be necessary to maximize the benefits and minimize conflicts. This review summarizes how beaver impact: (a) ecosystem structure and geomorphology, (b) hydrology and water resources, (c) water quality, (d) freshwater ecology, and (e) humans and society. As such, there is an increasing need for understanding of the impacts of beaver in intensively populated and managed, contemporary European landscapes. fiber population in Europe numbers over 1.5 million individuals. ![]() fiber to much of its European range with recent reviews estimating that the C. In recent decades species reintroductions across Europe, concurrent with natural expansion of refugia populations has led to the return of C. ![]() This review has a European focus but examines key research considering both Castor fiber-the Eurasian beaver and Castor canadensis-its North American counterpart. To bring together understanding of the role that beavers may play in the management of water resources, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems, this article reviews the state‐of‐the‐art scientific understanding of the beaver as the quintessential ecosystem engineer. Beavers have the ability to modify ecosystems profoundly to meet their ecological needs, with significant associated hydrological, geomorphological, ecological, and societal impacts. ![]()
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